Marzan A. Iskandar, the head of the agency known as the BPPT, said e-Health, an information and communication technology program, was expected to provide the public with better access to health services.
“E-Health will contain the medical history of a patient, which will make it easier for paramedics to take action,” Marzan said on Wednesday at the e-Indonesia Initiatives Forum in Jakarta. “People will also be able to consult doctors without having to meet face-to-face.”
Read more: Indonesian Agency Hopes to Expand Use of Electronic ID Cards
He said the e-health program would be implemented to coincide with the launch of the second generation of e-ID cards, which would use microchips to hold owners’ personal data, including their health records.
Given its increasing potential to provide social and economic benefits to societies, bridging the digital divide has become a priority for governments around the world.
This is especially true for major developing countries like Indonesia, India and China, due to ICT’s ability to connect a vast and diverse population at a speed faster than traditional infrastructure can offer. ICT can be a motor for enhancing public services such as education and health care, as well as promoting entrepreneurship and the growth of the small and medium enterprises that often dominate an emerging country’s business landscape.
Read more: Can Indonesia's Economic Master Plan Bridge the Digital Divide?
He said the e-health program would be implemented in coincide with the launching of the second generation of E-KTP, which would use microchips to hold owners’ personal data, including their health records.
The project, which was launched in February and targeted to be completed at the end of 2012, has been marred with technical glitches and corruption allegations. In a nutshell, it is a controversial and inefficient government project that lacked a solid grand design.
From the very substantial background of the program, Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi has claimed that the project is mandated by the Law on Population Administration. The government, as stipulated in Article 101, is obliged to develop a database of citizenship identity numbers (NIK) in five years.